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Rare genetic mutation explains lack of fingerprints

By Andrew Purcell

Thanks to a rare genetic mutation, a handful of people have no fingerprints. That’s not the implausible premise of a crime story but a real condition, and it’s more notable for causing confusion at border control than for baffling detectives. Now, geneticists have identified a mutation that may cause it. It is unlikely to save the fingerprintless any time in airports, but it could ultimately lead to treatments for other, more common conditions.

Fingerprints form roughly halfway through a normal pregnancy. Every individual has a unique set – even identical twins – which makes them an ideal way to quickly and easily establish identity.

The biological function of fingerprints remains a matter of controversy. It has long been thought that the ridges improve grip, but a recent study suggests they actually reduce friction between skin and a surface and perhaps increase the sensitivity of touch.

But not in the members of the five families so far diagnosed with adermatoglyphia – an absence of fingerprints. Eli Sprecher at Tel Aviv University, Israel, and colleagues studied three generations in one of these families and found that everyone with the condition shared a mutation in the gene SMARCAD1.

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Genetic fingerprint

Gabriele Richard, who researches dermatology and genetics at genetic testing company GeneDX in Gaithersburg, Maryland, points out that the finding is unlikely to help those with adermatoglyphia to grow fingerprints – but Sprecher says there might be wider implications.

“Without this family, we simply would not know what SMARCAD1 is,” he says. Studying the proteins generated by such new genes “may lead to the development of treatments for more common conditions”, he says.